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Unveiling the Real Woman Behind the Fame

Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

Few Hollywood stories capture as much heart, grit, and glamour as the life of Liza Minnelli, and Bruce David Klein’s documentary LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY does an impressive job balancing the spectacle with personal sincerity. Rather than just another celebrity documentary ticking off career highlights, this one offers a fresh perspective on what makes Minnelli an unforgettable entertainer and an intriguing human being. Klein carefully crafts a narrative that feels like discovering the person behind the performer, rather than merely a chronological account of her celebrity status.

Birthday Bash Becomes Nightmare on Wheels

Don't Turn Out the Lights

DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS opens with a clever sleight-of-hand. Right from the opening scene—a child's gentle humming twisted into something quietly menacing—there’s a promise that the film intends to keep you with that uneasy feeling. This supernatural horror outing is ambitious in its attempt to fuse familiar scary-movie tropes with an unnerving, closed-in atmosphere, though it stumbles more often than succeeds.

Comedy Tackles Teacher Burnout With Empathy

Abbott Elementary: The Complete Third Season

Slipping comfortably into the latest season of ABBOTT ELEMENTARY: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON is like revisiting a classic favorite: It is instantly familiar but peppered with delightful new twists that keep the experience fresh. The show’s blend of comedy, well-developed characters, and pointed commentary about the realities of American education continues to charm. This third season expands on previous storylines, adding refreshing depth to well-known faces without losing sight of the warmth that initially drew audiences to its quirky Philadelphia classrooms.

When Opposites Attract and Cultures Collide

A Nice Indian Boy

Romantic comedies often promise a charming escape but rarely deliver something genuinely memorable. Too often, they're predictable, serving familiar scenarios without depth. Yet, a film surprises us now and then—not by reinventing the genre but by genuinely investing in its characters, creating authentic and relatable connections. Roshan Sethi’s A NICE INDIAN BOY is a delightful surprise, blending humor and genuine emotion within a vibrant exploration of culture, identity, and the modern dating experience.

Punk, Rap, and Redemption Collide

Freaky Tales

The kind of project that only gets made when two directors cash in on their blockbuster cred and decide to get weird, FREAKY TALES is the right kind of chaos. Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, this multi-genre anthology doesn’t just look back at 1987 Oakland—it energizes it. It’s messy, loud, and a little all over the place. But it’s also bursting with creative vision, cultural specificity, and a refreshing willingness to take wild swings. It’s the kind that doesn’t always hit center field, but the crowd still jumps out of their seats.

A Woman’s Fire Behind Palace Walls

An Amorous Woman of Tang Dynasty (Tong chiu ho fong nui)

Historical dramas rarely walk the tightrope like this one. AN AMOROUS WOMAN OF TANG DYNASTY refuses to settle into a single identity—it balances romance, tragedy, rebellion, and visual grandeur with the energy of a filmmaker trying to push genre boundaries. While the storytelling isn’t without its stumbles, this film crafts an atmosphere so rich that even its narrative gaps become part of the experience.

Unveiling the Shadows: Dr. Mabuse's Legacy

Mabuse Lives! (Limited Edition Box Set) (Blu-ray)

There’s something undeniably fascinating about a villain whose presence lingers long after their death. That’s the hook behind MABUSE LIVES!, a six-film box set from Eureka Entertainment and MVD Entertainment that taps into the persistent shadow of Dr. Mabuse—a criminal icon whose influence transcends time, place, and even physical form. Across these films, shot between 1960 and 1964, Mabuse becomes more than a person. He’s an idea—malleable, intangible, and always waiting in the wings to strike again. And while the quality of these entries varies, the set captures something deeply compelling about the evolution of genre storytelling, the nature of evil, and the shifting cultural fears of the mid-20th century.

Maybe Your Job Isn’t As Bad As You Thought

Mega Blood Moon: The Freelancer

Nothing about this movie was supposed to work—until it did. An after-hours shoot, a workplace transformed into a horror set, no formal script, and a cast and crew working in secret? Sounds like a recipe for chaos. But MEGA BLOOD MOON: THE FREELANCER thrives on that chaos. What starts like an improvised experiment winds up somewhere more layered, channeling raw creativity into a hybrid of horror, comedy, and surreal existential panic.

Lust, Leather, and Lawlessness

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (Blu-ray)

The mid-70s fascination with anti-establishment adrenaline hit another checkpoint with Mark L. Lester’s BOBBIE JO AND THE OUTLAW. Equal parts road trip mayhem and outlaw-fantasy fever dream speeds past the usual character arcs and lands squarely in the corner of genre cinema. While the storytelling never quite hits the brakes for nuance, it delivers enough havoc to make the ride memorable.

Pain, Parties, and Unspoken Truths

Ex-Husbands (DVD)

It’s always interesting when a film puts down the megaphone and leans into a whisper instead. EX-HUSBANDS doesn’t announce itself with spectacle or shocking twists—it operates in the quiet space where uncertainty, disappointment, and self-reflection sit side by side. Instead of trying to impress through chaos, it focuses on something more elusive: the emotional disarray of ordinary lives at a standstill.

Art and Time Collide in Two Quiet Stories

In Custody + The Proprietor: 2 Films by Ismail Merchant (Blu-ray)

Two lesser-known directorial works from Ismail Merchant are paired together in this Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber and Cohen Media Group, and while they may seem like an unlikely duo at first glance, there’s a shared sensitivity in both that makes the collection worth watching. These aren’t showy prestige pieces and don’t lean on big twists or dramatic flair. Instead, they gently examine cultural displacement, memory, and creative identity themes with patience, care, and just enough sophistication to keep them from feeling too static. It’s a blend of modest storytelling and reflective filmmaking that invites viewers to lean in.

A Strong Concept Without the Polish

Enter the Room

There’s something undeniably captivating about watching someone swing for the fences with a homegrown project, even if they don’t quite hit it out of the park. ENTER THE ROOM falls into that category—a passion-driven short that aims high with its themes and emotional punch. It’s the kind of indie piece where you can feel the determination behind every frame, but you can also see the missing resources, every unpolished edge, and every idea that needed a few more drafts. Ambition is on full display here, but ambition alone can’t carry a story when the final product feels more like a first cut than a finished product.

Silence, Snow, and Unhealed Wounds

The Brood Limited Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray

Every once in a while, a horror film lands with a chill that lingers—not because of buckets of gore or jump scares but because it manages to tap into something raw and deeply personal. That’s what THE BROOD does. David Cronenberg crafts a story that takes a scalpel to emotion and examines what happens when trauma isn’t dealt with—it erupts. From the outside, this might look like your standard horror, but under the surface, it’s simmering with ideas, grief, and a slow-burning rage that never quite gets extinguished.